Tell Your Tale 65 Review: I empathized hard with Misty...but the moral could've been presented better · 1:39am Nov 5th, 2023
I empathize so hard with Misty. I wish the moral of the episode were: your best friends are not your best roommates. But then...it wasn't. Spoilers for "Misty Moves In" below. Watch it here.
wait, why is sunny still wearing her crossbody bag in the middle of the night!?
Brief story time. My former college roommate and I are unlikely friends. I'm Asian, liberal, and generally not religious, and he's a white conservative Christian. In theory we should hate each other, but just as a person he's incredibly open-minded and respectful, and I in turn try to confer the same respect upon him. He even met me at Everfree Northwest once, and I'm going to his wedding next year.
But I didn't like him as a roommate.
He would snore quite loudly and got sick a lot while we were in the same room (this was pre-2020). I was an only child, plus a noise-sensitive light sleeper. Moving from my own queen-size bed to a tiny bunk in college was such a shock that I fell into a deep depression (that's also how I discovered MLP, so...there's a silver lining I guess?). After that year, I moved into campus apartments where I could at least cook my own food, and then the pan-you-know-what happened and everyone had to live in separate rooms. During that time when I was living on my own, I loved to meet up with my former roommate and hang out/have dinner.
The point is...I only felt like I became good friends with my former roommate after we stopped being roommates. Hey, I don't even like my mom snoring when we share a hotel room on vacation. Doesn't mean I dislike her as a person.
Some people are naturally gregarious and love sharing a bedroom. For some though, like me, we counterintuitively need some privacy to function socially. For us, living with with friends can sometimes literally break those friendships. Misty is one of those people/ponies.
Which segues into one of my biggest complaints with G5. *takes deep breath* Why do the New Mane 6 (minus Hitch*) live in a literal ONE BEDROOM CASTLE!?!?!? 
An occasional sleepover party is fine. But even in housing-scarce cities like NYC, most working adults have their own bedroom, even if it's converted out of a living room. Outside of a literal laborer's dormitory, you just don't see five grown, working adults living together in a one bedroom apartment. Let alone a lighthouse-castle.
You would think that Pipp and Zipp would have RIOTED over their new living arrangement. In the Zephyr Heights castle, they probably have their own wing to themselves, with ensuite bathroom, walk-in-closet, you name it. Maybe a social butterfly like Pipp would learn to like rooming with others, but Zipp...she seems like the kind of lone-wolf pony who likes her alone and quiet time to do research.
So why did the writers choose to make the New Mane 6 share a room? The low-hanging-fruit argument is "many young children share a room", so they want to make it relatable to the target demographic. I wholeheartedly disagree with this. I discussed this somewhat in my last critique of the Tell Your Tale Ep 51 (with Alphabittle x Queen Haven)...I feel like the writers of G5 have this false belief that they need to make adult characters behave like children in order for them to be relatable to children.
This simply isn't true. Realistic depictions of adult characters work great in children's shows. In fact, a good counterexample can be found within the same franchise: Generation 4 Friendship is Magic. All the Mane 6: Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Twilight are grown adults and not only have their own rooms, but live in separate HOUSES.
Fluttershy, whose shyness and social anxiety is comparable to Misty's, has her own COTTAGE far away from others. And her friends are respectful of her need for privacy. Imagine if Fluttershy 
had to share a room with Pinkie Pie 
, let alone all the others. Even Spike, a young boy, is given his own room in the Friendship Castle. Starlight Glimmer, when she is reformed and becomes Twilight's pupil, also has her own room in the castle. It's a realistic depiction of how young adults live. And guess what?
The Mane 6 are STILL the best of friends. The Mane 6 are STILL loved and adored by children audiences around the world.
Misty's struggles with privacy in this episode further exposes how ludicrous the New Mane 6's living arrangement is in G5. In my opinion, Misty would literally be better off sleeping on a sofabed downstairs.
At the end of the episode, the writers claim to "solve" Misty's privacy issue by giving Misty what is basically a bed with blackout curtains around it.
It makes sense in principle, but it's still unrealistic to me. No curtains, no matter how thick they are, are as soundproof as a room with walls. Curtains don't lock, either. Couldn't Izzy sleep-levitate through the curtains, just like how she broke through Misty's massive pillow fort?
now kiss 
The real killer, though, is that Misty literally had her own room when she lived with Opaline. Not a very nice room, but far from the dungeon cell that Opaline could have housed her in. It's clean, decent sized, with thick stone walls, a rug, a window, and a bed with sheets.
A DEMONIC TYRANT. GAVE MISTY. BIGGER LIVING SPACE. THAN SUNNY STARSCOUT DID.
How can you even make this up!?
But there were some positives to this episode. I really like the way they depicted Misty's thoughts as she ran through the empty Brighthouse. 
Misty (to herself): Of course, they left, you Misty! Of course!
This is SO accurate to the struggles of the natural loner trying to build a social life. Misty's fear is the same as my own. Do people think I dislike them just because I don't want to be around them sometimes? I'm always worried of hurting other people's feelings or losing them as a friend.
Overall, I related a lot with Misty's struggles with her new living arrangement. I think it's great Misty is free from Opaline and I'm sure she'll have an overall better time living with the Mane 6. The living arrangement is just one part of her new life, after all. All things considered, Misty's life is, indeed, looking up. But the episode's topic really emphasizes the systemic issue with the New Mane 6's unrealistic living arrangements.
Anyway rant over *wipes sweat*...would love to hear your thoughts in the comments! Do you all feel the same way as Misty does? Or am I just a spoiled snob? 
* And for those of y'all wishing you had Hitch's living arrangement, don't speak too soon. He's got a hyperactive baby dragon to deal with at night. 
While I was confused about the sleeping situation too, I was more upset by the gender segregation with Hitch.
5753732
The two issues kinda go hand in hand. If the New Mane 6 had separate bedrooms in the Brighthouse like reasonable adults, Hitch could live coed with the girls in his own room. (Hitch is shown sleeping in a separate room of the Brighthouse in “Under the Mistytoe”). But then again, maybe some conservative families may find even that to be objectionable. The gender segregation is kind outdated I agree but I think the writers put it in to ease some parent’s concerns.
Segregation or not Hitch still gets all the mares